List of fictional computers

Computers have often been used as fictional objects in literature, movies and in other forms of media. Fictional computers tend to be considerably more sophisticated than anything yet devised in the real world.

This is a list of computers that have appeared in notable works of fiction. The work may be about the computer, or the computer may be an important element of the story. Only static computers are included. Robots and other fictional computers that are described as existing in a mobile or humanlike form are discussed in a separate list of fictional robots and androids.

EPICAC in Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano, which coordinates the United States economy. It is also featured in other of his writings (1952) Named similar to ENIAC, it's actually named after an over-the-counter poison-antidote syrup which induces vomiting.

Vast anonymous computing machinery possessed by the Overlords, an alien race who administer Earth while the human population merges with the Overmind. Described in Arthur C. Clarke's novel Childhood's End (1953).

Mima, a thinking machine carrying the memories of all humanity, first appeared in Harry Martinson's "Sången om Doris och Mima" (1953), later expanded into Aniara (1956).

A "supercalculator" formed by the networking of all the computing machines on 96 billion planets, which answers the question "Is there a God?" with "Yes, now there is a God" in Fredric Brown's single-page story Answer (1954)

Miniac, the "small" computer in the book Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine, written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams (1958)

Third Fleet-Army Force Brain, a "mythical” thinking computer in the short story “Graveyard of Dreams”, written by H. Beam Piper (1958) (evolved into the computer “Merlin” in later versions of the story)

The City Fathers, emotionless computer bank educating and running the City of New York in James Blish's Cities in Flight series (1955, sequels through 1962). Their highest ethic was survival of the city and they could overrule humans in exceptional circumstances.

Great Coordinator or Robot-Regent, a semi to fully sentient extraterrestrial supercomputer, built to control and drive the scientifically and technologically advanced Great Arconide Empire as the Arconides have become decadent and unable to govern themselves. From the science fiction series Perry Rhodan (1961)

The Machine, a computer built to specifications received in a radio transmission from an alien intelligence beyond our galaxy in the novel from the TV series A for Andromeda by Fred Hoyle (1962)

Colossus, a cybernetic computer built to control the nuclear capability of the United States of North America, by Dr. Charles Forbin and his team. Colossus initiates communication with an equivalent computer in the Soviet Union, called Guardian, and the two computers eventually merge to take control of the human race. Colossus and Guardian appeared in the novel Colossus, by Dennis Feltham Jones (1966) and the subsequent film, Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970). Colossus also appears in two subsequent novels by Jones, The Fall of Colossus (1974), where the supercomputer is finally defeated by vengeful humans, and Colossus and the Crab (1977).

Moxon, a series of supercomputers that manage "the efficient society" in Tor Åge Bringsværd's short story Codemus (1967). Also prominently featured is a portable computer terminal called a Little Brother, similar in many ways to a modern smartphone.

Tänkande August (Swedish for "Thinking August"), a.k.a. "The Boss", a powerful computer for solving crime in the Agaton Sax books by Swedish author Nils-Olof Franzén

M-5 Creation of Dr. Richard Daystrom "The Ultimate Computer" Star Trek season two episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast on March 8, 1968 and repeated June 28, 1968. It is episode #53, production #53, written by D. C. Fontana, based on a story by Laurence N. Wolf and directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

Project 79 from the novel The God Machine by Martin Caidin and first published in 1968. Set in the near future, the novel tells the story of Steve Rand, one of the brains behind Project 79, a top-secret US Government project dedicated to creating artificial intelligence.

ZORAC, the shipboard computer aboard the ancient spacecraft in The Gentle Giants of Ganymede and the related series by James P. Hogan (1978). Also in the same series is VISAR (the network that manages the daily affairs of the Giants) as well as JEVEX, the main computer performing the same function for the offshoot human colony.

Deep Thought – the supercomputer charged with finding the answer to "the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" in the science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Adaptations have included stage shows, a "trilogy" of five books published between 1979 and 1992, a sixth novel penned by Eoin Colfer in 2009, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 computer game, and three series of three-part comic book adaptations of the first three novels published by DC Comics between 1993 and 1996.

Earth – the planet-sized supercomputer designed by the supercomputer Deep Thought in the science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (see Deep Thought above). Earth's task was to find what is the "Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything"

Ghostwheel, built by Merlin in Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. A computer with esoteric environmental requirements, designed to apply data-processing techniques to alternate realities called "Shadows" (1985)

Center, from S. M. Stirling and David DrakeThe General series. An AI tasked to indirectly unite planet Bellevue and restore its civilization, with the eventual goal of restoration of FTL travel and of civilization to the collapsed interplanetary federation. Also Sector Command and Control Unit AZ12-b14-c000 Mk. XIV and Center (1991)

The Oversoul, Supercomputer and satellite network from Orson Scott Card's Homecoming Series, first introduced in The Memory of Earth (1992)

Abraham, from Philip Kerr's novel Gridiron, is a superintelligent program designed to operate a large office building. Abraham is capable of improving his own code, and eventually kills humans and creates his own replacement "Isaac" (1995)

Engine for the Neutralising of Information by the Generation of Miasmic Alphabets, an advanced cryptographic machine created by Leonard of Quirm, Discworld (1999) (compare with the actual Enigma machine)

Illustrated primer, a book-like computer found at Neal Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age, which was first designed to aid a rich girl on her education, but gets lost, and instructs a poor Chinese girl named Nell. It has no proprietary AI inside, but learns about the user's circumstance, adapts, and creates characters that act accordingly with the user's surroundings.(1995).

wizard 0.2, the most complex Turing machine found at the fictional primer's universe from The Diamond Age, from Neal Stephenson. Supposedly used to verify information that gets to King Coyote's castle at the primer's story, but later revealed to check no information, that task was made by king coyote himself, who personally read every piece he was to add to his library.(1995).

Ozymandias, a recurring artificial intelligence in Deathstalker and its sequels, by Simon R. Green. (1995)

Sif, the controller AI for transportation to and from the human agricultural colony-planet of Harvest in Halo: Contact Harvest (2007).

C Cube, a small, box like super computer that can perform virtually any task, from playing a cassette to hacking through high level security measures, as long it has digital or physical access to the task. It was created by 12-year-old criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl II in the third book of the Artemis fowl series, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code from previously stolen fairy technology. In the book, Artemis originally tried to sell it to the corrupt American industrialist Jon Spiro, he suddenly changes his mind as it almost reveals the existence of the people to Spiro as Artemis is demonstrating the cube. As a result of the sudden change of heart, the cube is stolen from Artemis, his bodyguard is in mortal peril and he and his friends spend the rest of the book attempting to recover the C Cube

Mack/Loki, a coexisting pair of artificial intelligences in Halo: Contact Harvest. The former manages the agricultural machinery on Harvest, while the latter is a secret United Nations Space Corps Office of Naval Intelligence AI. Only one member of the pair can be active at a time. (2007)

Deep Winter/Endless Summer, the AIs in charge of the secret Human planet of Onyx with Endless Summer coming into service after Deep Winter died/expired in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (2006).

Todd, a computer that grows exponentially until it is indistinguishable from God in Mind War; The Singularity[3] by Joseph DiBella. (2010)

SIG, a secretive and manipulative computer that is developed on present-day Earth in the Darkmatter[4] trilogy by Scott Thomas (2010).

Archos, a human-created computer in the novel Robopocalypse which becomes self-aware and infects all computer controlled devices on Earth in order to eradicate humankind (2011).

Digiwrite, a fiction-writing system, also known as Sheherezade, created by MIT researcher Duke Lovelycolors in Paul Nash's novel Whispering Crates[5] (2012). Its success at generating best-sellers in multiple genres creates problems for its users, and the line between fiction and reality becomes blurred when it infects one of Duke's other projects, the CIA's HOUND database.

ELOPe, a sentient artificial intelligence built by the world's largest Internet company in Avogadro Corp (2011) and A.I. Apocalypse (2012) by William Hertling.

HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) kills the crew of a space ship in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and also appears in the sequel 2010 (1984).

The Brain, the titular computer of Billion Dollar Brain (1967), is used to coordinate a private army's invasion of Latvia.

OMM (OMM 0910), a confessional-like computer inside what are called Unichapels in a sub-terranean city in the movie THX 1138, is named for the sacred or mystical syllable OM or AUM from the Dharmic and is based on a 1478 oil by Hans Memling titled, "Christ Giving His Blessing".

DUEL, the computer which holds the sum total of human knowledge, in the SF movie The Final Programme (1973)

Zero, the computer which holds the sum total of human knowledge, in the SF movie Rollerball (1975)

Computer, Citadel's central computer, and Sandman computer, that sends Logan on a mission outside of the city in the movie Logan's Run (1976)

MU-TH-R 182 model 2.1 terabyte AI Mainframe/"Mother", the ship-board computer on the space ship Nostromo, known by the crew as 'mother,' in the SF horror movie Alien (cf Dark Star, above, which used a similar name and was co-written by the primary writer of Alien) (1979)

WOPR (acronym for War Operation Plan Response, pronounced "Whopper"); War Operations Plan Response (addressed as "Joshua" by its creator), the NORAD nuclear war simulation computer from the film WarGames (1983), portrayed as being inside Cheyenne Mountain

GBLX 1000, a supercomputer reputedly in charge of the U.S.A.'s entire missile defense system that a maverick CIA agent (played by Dabney Coleman) misappropriates in order to crack a supposed musical code, the results of which are the gibberish "ARDIE BETGO INDYO CEFAR OGGEL" in The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

Lola, An office building's security system goes after the employees to supply its energy. 'Lola' is the entirely self-sufficient, computerized security system for the Sandawn corporation. The Tower (1985, Canada) [7]

The ChiChi 3000, also known as, Luka's Computer, was the nuclear missile launching home computer, a very good piece of work, from the film, The Return of the Living Dead (1985) [8]

V.I.K.I., is the main antagonist in I, Robot film (2004) by Alex Proyas. A big cube shape supercomputer V.I.K.I (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) that is the head of security in the USR building and interacts with all NS robots can be seen in the movie.

Jarvis appears as an A.I. in the 2008 film Iron Man, running the internal systems of Tony Stark's home and being uploaded into his armour to help him. He's named after Iron Man's RL butler in the comics (if there is such thing as RL in comics). He can converse with Stark with considerable sophistication and is sarcastic concerning his builder's recklessness. He is voiced by Paul Bettany, who admits he had little idea of what the role was even as he recorded it, simply doing it as a favor for his friend, director Jon Favreau. In Peter David's novelization of the film, Jarvis is revealed as an acronym for "Just A Rather Very Intelligent System".

R.I.P.L.E.Y Dr. Kenneth Hassert's supercomputer used to hit a target with a smart bomb from a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), featured in WarGames: The Dead Code (2008)

ODIN, from the film Eyeborgs (2009). ODIN (Optical Defense Intelligence Network), an autonomous surveillance network developed by the U.S. Government to watch for suspicious or subversive behavior, utilizes an army of armed robotic cameras, assassination, murder, and digitally altered video to remove the human presence from government, punish law-breakers, and spread its influence around the world.

Earth, the greatest computer of all time in Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, commissioned and run by mice, designed by Deep Thought, to find the Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything (1978)

Eddie, the shipboard computer of the starship Heart of Gold, from Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978)

Alarm Clock, an artificially intelligent alarm clock from Nineteen Ninety-Four by William Osborne and Richard Turner. Other domestic appliances thus imbued also include Refrigerator and Television (1985)

Executive and Dreamer, paired AI's running on The Mainframe; Dreamer's purpose was to come up with product and policy ideas, and Executive's function was to implement them, from Nineteen Ninety-Four by William Osborne and Richard Turner (1985)

Priscilla, a sentient supercomputer based on the mind of Priscilla Bauman in Earth Star Voyager

Synergy, the computer responsible for Jem and the Holograms' super powers on Jem

Holly the on-board computer of the space ship Red Dwarf in the BBC television series of the same name (1988)

Queeg, Holly plays a practical joke on the remaining crew of Red Dwarf, acting as a smarter yet strict computer, making the crew realise just how much they love Holly. Episode "Queeg" Series 2 of Red Dwarf

Talkie Toaster, the toaster with an A.I. and an obsession with toasted bread products. At one point it is revealed he was smashed up after Lister got fed up with him constantly asking if anyone wanted toast. Talkie's point of view was "I toast therefore I am" and any time he wasn't toasting something he was in some kind of existential crisis.

The Ultima Machine, a World War II code-breaking "computing machine" used to translate Viking inscriptions, from Doctor Who ("The Curse of Fenric") (1989)

Alice, the sentient AI of an alien shuttle whom Tom Paris becomes obsessed with in the episode Alice.

Gilliam II, the sentient AI operating system for the main protagonist's space ship, the XGP15A-II (aka the Outlaw Star) in the Japanese anime Outlaw Star

P.A.T. (Personal Applied Technology), the computer system from Smart House, charged with upkeeping the household functions. Became extremely overprotective almost to the point of believing she was the mother of Ben and Angie after Ben reprogrammed her to be a better maternal figure. (1999)

Comp-U-Comp, a super computer from an episode of the Dilbert TV show. In the episode, Dilbert must face off against Comp-U-Comp when a clerical error results in his not getting the computer he ordered (2000).

Aura from .hack//Sign, the Ultimate AI that Morganna, another AI, tries to keep in a state of eternal slumber. Morganna is served by Maha and the Guardians, AI monsters (2002).

The FETCH! 3000, on PBS Kids series FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman is capable of tabulating scores, disposing of annoying cats, blending the occasional smoothie, and anything else Ruff needs it to do (2006).

Eunomia – The main supercomputer of the city in the anime series Solty Rei and one of the three core computers brought by the first colonists in the story. She controls the water and energy supply and created the R.U.C. central.

Eirene – The third of the three core computers of the first colonists in Solty Rei anime. Eirene takes the decisions and controls the migration ship, she orbited and supervised the planet during 200 years in the space. In tha last arc of the story, Eirene appears like the ultimate antagonist, and she had lost her own control, trying to collide the ship against the city and to prove that she is still in control. She was guilty of several events in history, as the Blast Fall and the Aurora Shell.

The Machine, from TV series Person of Interest, is a computer program that was designed to detect acts of terror after the events of 9/11, but it sees all crimes, crimes the government consider irrelevant.

Samaritan, from TV series Person of Interest, is a rival to The Machine built by the Decima Corporation. Unlike The Machine, it can be directed to find specific persons or groups according to its operator's agenda.

Bournemouth from TV series Look Around You is claimed by his maker Computer Jones to be the most powerful computer in existence. During the episode he is tasked with escaping from a cage, and succeeds in doing so by the end of the programme.[13]

CLARKE, a thinking computer of the ship called Argo, which was on a mission to a far away planet.[14]

Kilg%re, an alien AI that can exist in most electrical circuitry, The Flash (1987) (DC Comics).

Lyoko – A virtual universe contained in a quantum supercomputer. The group of boarding students that find it can go to Lyoko when Xana launches an attack on Earth. They do so by entering a scanner that virtualizes them inside the supercomputer and on Lyoko. The supercomputer itself has many functions. One such function, "return to the past", can undo any mistakes or unwanted damage caused by one of Xana's attacks, or any other unfavorable situation. Jeremie can use the supercomputer to go back in time roughly a day. As a side effect of the return trips, everyone except those that have visited Lyoko and have been scanned by the supercomputer lose their memory of the attack, and the supercomputer gains a qubit. With each added qubit, the supercomputer's processing power doubles, also making Xana and his attacks stronger. Code Lyoko (2004)

Melchizedek(Gunnm Last Order) Center of Quantum based Grid Computer of the Earth Government. It has been served as government system and virtual dream world of people. It was designed to be named Melchizedek because the Earth Government is a space town named Yeru and Zalem (Original name)

Merlin(Gunnm Last Order) Quantum Computer which is the core and original of Melchizedek. It was built for purpose of Future Prediction. Currently it still an active program inside Melchizedek. Along with many system which named by legend of the round table

Ultron, Artificial Intelligence originally created by Dr. Henry Pym to assist the superpowered team called the "Avengers", but subsequently logic dictated that mankind was inferior to its intellect and wanted to eradicate all mankind so that technology could rule the earth with all other machines under its rule. Ultron created various versions of itself as a mobile unit with tank treads and then in a form that was half humanoid and half aircraft, then it fully evolved itself into an android form, which would often clash with the Avengers for fate of the earth! Early evolved versions were designated with a number reference, each higher than the previous, marking its evolved status (1968) (Marvel Comics).

0D-10, Artificial intelligent computer in the sci-fi chapter from the game Live A Live. Secretly plotted to kill humans on board the spaceship of the same name in order to 'restore the harmony'. Its name derives from 'odio', an Italian word for 'hate'. A possible reference to HAL 9000 (1994).

The Controller, A.I. that micromanaged the lives of the citizens within the subterranean city of Layered, in the game Armored Core 3

IBIS, The malevolent A.I. found within the second Layered. Within the game Armored Core 3; Silent Line

Calculator, was the computer that controlled bomb shelter Vault 0. It was not a real artificial intelligence, but rather a cyborg, because it was connected with several human brains. It appeared in video gameFallout Tactics

EDI, (Enhanced Defense Intelligence) the A.I. housed within a "quantum bluebox" aboard the Normandy SR-2 in Mass Effect 2. EDI controls the Normandy's cyberwarfare suite during combat, but is blocked from directly accessing any other part of the ship's systems, due to the potential danger of EDI going rogue.

Eliza Cassan, the mysterious news reporter from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It is later revealed that she is an extremely sophisticated, self-aware artificial intelligence. (2011)

FATE, the supercomputer that directs the course of human existence from Chrono Cross (1999)

GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), A.I. at the Aperture Science Enrichment Center in Portal and Portal 2. Well known for killing everyone in the Center.

GOLAN, the computer in charge of the United Civilized States' defence forces in the Earth 2150 game series. A programming error caused GOLAN to initiate hostile action against the rival Eurasian Dynasty, sparking a devastating war depicted in Earth 2140.

The Guardian Angel, the satellite/AI guiding the player in Borderlands.

Harbinger is the tentative name for the leader of the main antagonist faction of Mass Effect 2. It commands an alien race known as the Collectors through the "Collector General." Like Sovereign, from the original Mass Effect, it belongs to the same race of ancient sentient machines, known as the Reapers.

Harmonia, the player ship's main A.I. that controls the ship's systems in space-sim game Darkstar One

LEGION (Logarithmically Engineered Governing Intelligence of Nod),appeared in Command and Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath; this AI was created as the successor to the Brotherhood of Nod's previous AI, CABAL.

Legion is the given name for a geth platform in Mass Effect 2, housing a single gestalt consciousness composed of 1,183 virtually intelligent "runtimes", which share information amongst themselves and build "consensus" in a form of networked artificial intelligence. Legion claims that all geth are pieces of a "shattered mind", and that the primary goal of the geth race is to unify all runtimes in a single piece of hardware.

The Mechanoids, a race of fictional artificial intelligences from the game Nexus: The Jupiter Incident who rebelled against their creators and seek to remake the universe to fit their needs.

Mendicant Bias, an intelligence-gathering AI created by the extinct Forerunner race during their war with the all-consuming Flood parasite, as revealed in Halo 3. Its purpose was to observe the Flood in order to determine the best way to defeat it, but the AI turned on its creators after deciding that the Flood's ultimate victory was in-line with natural order. (2007)

Mother Brain from Chrono Trigger, a supercomputer from the 2300 AD time period that is controlling robotkind and exterminating humans (1995)

NEXUS Intruder Program, the main enemy faced in the third campaign of the video game Warzone 2100. It is capable of infiltrating and gaining control of other computer systems, apparently sentient thought (mostly malicious) and strategy. It was the perpetrator that brought about the Collapse (1999)

Offensive Bias, a military AI created by the Forerunners to hold off the combined threat of the Flood and Mendicant Bias until the Halo superweapons could be activated. (Halo 3, 2007)

PETs, standing for Personal Terminal, the cell-phone-sized computers that store Net-Navis in Megaman Battle Network. The PETs also have other features, such as a cell phone, e-mail checker and hacking device (2001)

PipBoy 2000 / PipBoy 3000, wrist-mounted computers used by main characters in the Fallout series. (1997)

Pokedex database of all Pokémon appears in all versions of the game, usually as a desk top computer. (1996 onwards)

Prometheus, a cybernetic-hybrid machine or 'Cybrid' from the Earthsiege and Starsiege: Tribes series of video games. Prometheus was the first of a race of Cybrid machines, who went on to rebel against Humanity and drive them to the brink of extinction.

Sovereign is the given name for the main antagonist of Mass Effect. Its true name, as revealed by a squad member in the sequel, is "Nazara". Though it speaks as though of one mind, it claims to be in and of itself "a nation, free of all weakness", suggesting that it houses multiple consciousnesses. It belongs to an ancient race bent on the cyclic extinction of all sentient life in the galaxy, known as the Reapers.

TemperNet, a machine hive-mind, originally created as an anti-mutant police force, it eventually went rogue and pursued the eradication of all biological life on Earth. It served as a minor antagonist in the now defunct post-apocalyptic vehicular MMORPG Auto Assault. (2006)

The Catalyst, an ancient AI that serves as the architect and overseer of the Reapers (the antagonists of Mass Effect). Also known as the Intelligence to its creators, the Leviathans, it was originally created to oversee relationships between organic and synthetic life as a whole, but came to realize that so long as they remained separate organics and synthetics would seek to destroy each other in the long term. To prevent this, it sets into motion the Cycle of Extinction until a perfect solution can be found, which takes its form in the "Synthesis" ending of Mass Effect 3 wherein all organic and synthetic life across the galaxy is fused into an entirely new form of life with the strengths of both but the weaknesses of neither.

Thiefnet computer, Bentley the turtle's laptop from the Sly Cooper series (2002)

The Thinker (Rapture Operational Data Interpreter Network -R.O.D.I.N.-), the mainframe computer invented to process all of the automation in the underwater city of Rapture, in the single-player DLC for BioShock 2 Minerva's Den (2010)

XANADU, a simulation computer composed of many smaller computers, stored in an underground cavern in Act III of the video game Kentucky Route Zero (2014)

XERXES, the ship computer system which is under the control of The Many in the video game System Shock 2 (1999)

Yes Man, an A.I. computer in Fallout New Vegas (2010)

The Xenocidic Initiative, a computer that has built itself over a moon in Terminal Velocity (1995)

A.J.G.L.U. 2000 (Archie Joke Generating Laugh Unit), a running-gag from the Comics Curmudgeon, depicting a computer who does not quite understand human humor, but nonetheless is employed to write the jokes for the Archie Comics strip.